Too Many Things Left To Say
by Dilsynae
Summary: After China, everyone gets on with their lives. Sherry goes back to her work as an agent, Jake resumes his life as a mercenary. Around them the Earth continues to wither and die. Someway, they'll have to find the hope and strength to fight side by side again. Jake/Sherry main with Chris/Sheva and Leon/Helena probably thrown in at some point.
1. Freezing Cold

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the Resident Evil universe. Everything belongs to Capcom, bless them.

So here's my first RE fic. Hope you like it!

JakexSherry, with probably friendly interference from LeonxHelena, ChrisxSheva and others. Sorry, I don't like JillxChris or LeonxAda much, so I won't be shipping those couples even if they are fan-favourites ;)

Also it's probably going to be a little unbalanced on the Jake's POW. It just feels better writing about him right now :)

Don't expect a big plot or clever twists, right now no genius idea struck me so I'm going to keep this simple and concentrate on my main couple. So it's going to be basically fluff but in a plausible, down-to-heart way (at least I hope!).

So, that's it folks. Read and review please!

Oh, almost forgot. English is not my first language so please, please, _please_, point out to me any error or odd thing you might spot in the text!

ALSO, please tell me what I should do to improve my editing. Right now it looks a bit off to me, tell me what you think! Should I use single line breaks and divide everything in paragraphs?

* * *

_Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, April 2015_

Sherry Birkin was in trouble. Big trouble. _Ustanak_-sized trouble.

The huge beetle-like B.O.W. was staring at her, a thousand beady eyes fixed on her movements, nothing human left in them at all.

Were it not for its humongous size, the critter would have looked pretty lame, slow and clumsy at a first glance, until you noticed the grappling hooks at the end of its fore-limbs, and the spear-sized needle that emerged from its oddly shaped mouth, still oozing a sickly green stuff.

Sherry had learned pretty fast not to underestimate that fucking bug, having just watched as it sucked dry her whole team, until only the skin was left.

She tried to hide her horror while one soldier after the other collapsed around her, empty sacks without a pound of flesh still in them, leaving behind only rifles and uniforms that clattered to the ground.

And the holes they managed to open in the thick armor of the mutated cockroach were already closing themselves up, regenerating at an increasing rate with every agents that ended up speared and tossed away.

The damned B.O.W. was hunting them and there was no escape.

Its eyes moved all independently and tracked down every member of the squad until Sherry was the only one left.

She tried to catch her breath, hiding behind a semi-demolished SUV, but one big kick sent the van flying in the air.

The girl had only a split second to roll out of the way.

Unfortunately, she had now nowhere to go.

Shaking with the adrenaline rush, she stood, eyes darting around the empty austrian square they used as base camp.

The squad was deployed here only the day before, but everything had been trashed so much that nobody would have guessed it.

The outbreak had gone terribly out of control, that much was clear.

The blonde agent managed to avoid a couple of strikes but she soon found herself outmatched.

A powerful limb pinned her to the curb, hooks biting into her flesh.

The ground beneath her was damp from both rain and blood and she felt the cold creeping up her body while warm blood spilled out of her wounds.

Impotent, she could only watch as the life-sucking needle came closer, ready to finish her off.

She was certainly no stranger to near-death experiences, they went with the job, but right there it struck her: nobody was around.

Nobody could retrieve her body, or at least her dog tag or badge. No squad was coming as reinforcement, no teammate was running just around the corner, trying desperately to rescue her. She was alone and she would remain so, even after her death.

For a second her eyes glazed over with grief and fear, then Jake's face flashed in her mind and she felt ashamed and relieved at the same time.

Ashamed of her moment of weakness, a trained agent should know better.

But also relieved that he wasn't around to see the scene, that he was safe or at least saf_er. _

She would gladly have spent her last few moments of life thinking about the mercenary that was now missing.

Since China, Sherry had tried to keep track of him but after a brief stint in Middle East, she lost him and after a year or so stopped trying to keep in touch.

She resolved to die with at least his friendly face before her eyes but the bug's needle finally found its way and pierced her shoulder.

Despite all the pain that she had to endure in her life, and she endured plenty, this was worse.

The acid burning her flesh, liquefying it, just wiped her mind clean until only pain remained. Agony.

Torture.

She screamed.

Everything seemed to explode and turn red around her, she could feel the bug sucking, sucking her away while her whole body burned up in the useless attempt to regenerate itself.

When the bug finally stopped sucking and stepped away from the wasted body Sherry had mercifully lost conscience.

She couldn't see the hooded figure ordering J'avos about. Couldn't feel the infected hands lifting her up and taking her away.

Couldn't watch as what remained of her team was burned and the evidence wiped out.

In a couple hours, at the orders of the misterious figure, the square was empty again.

* * *

_Kenya, June 2015_

Jake Muller was keeping tabs on a pack of lions that were apparently scouting the same area of savannah that he was.

Obviously he could have easily defended himself, but he also didn't want to hurt the animals so it was best just to be sensible about it and keep the distance.

From the shadow of a rocky outcrop downwind the mercenary watched a couple lionesses keeping guard over the pack, cubs running around the adults and the big male peacefully yawning.

His mouth quirked in that little distorted smile of his and slowly he moved back, and back again until the pack's resting spot was out of sight.

More relaxed now, he resumed his search, taking out the old PDA he carried around. No signal, of course.

He could have hacked into a satellite, but that would have meant a bigger risk of being found.

And he liked being missing, so to speak.

Glancing down at the monitor, dirty and scratched, he tried to pinpoint the exact location, using a few mountain ridges in the distance to orient himself.

He was close to the target, a small village that apparently housed a few fugitives he had to catch and bring back.

The pay was good, not the staggering amount he used to ask before China, but enough to keep him off-radar for a couple months more.

That was the essence of his life now, keeping down and staying alive and it wasn't always an easy task.

He had to admit that he liked this life better, though.

It gave him lots of alone time to think without feeling to cheesy because of it.

He questioned himself, his father, his life and future.

He usually followed the train of thought until Sherry Stop, and then felt so cheesy and clichéed he had to drink something or kill someone, either one.

Lost in thought, Jake didn't realize how close he really was to the village until he saw the first mud hut emerging before him, and when he did realize it, he saw that it was too late to hide as several children and women were already looking at him, the hands raised to screen eyes from the setting sun.

Cursing under his breath, the merc decided to keep going, since it was impossible now to stop and watch until morning to better understand the dynamics of the place.

As he grew closer, he saw a dozen women of different ages, dressed in head-to-toe red robes with beads and bone ornaments on them.

Their dark skin was streaked with mud, as was usual for many tribes of the area, and they kept watch as the stranger walked towards them, ready to call for help from the warriors.

He was already going over some plausible stories to tell them when a scream was heard somewhere behind the huts, farther into the small village.

The women immediately turned their heads and Jake picked up the pace, avoiding a few children running back to their mothers.

"What the fuck..." he thought, definitely picked up the pace when he saw smoke rising, and then more screams pierced the still air.

The sun was almost set now, a beautiful twilight as always, but no-one seemed to pay attention to it. Running, Jake made it at last to the little village square, nothing more than packed earth and a few straw mats, only to see the cause of all that commotion.

A couple of villagers were kneeling near a bigger building, probably the chief's hut, hands scratching the ground in pain.

A hooded figure was nearby, discarded needles scattered around. In disbelief, Jake watched as the deep brown skin of the men started to crack and distort.

"Goddamnit, not again!" he almost yelled, clenching his fists and moving towards the hooded figure. It was a woman, he saw, and a sense of deja-vu struck him.

But no, that wasn't Ada Wong.

Or was she?

From his point of view he could only make out a wry smile before the woman suddenly turned and disappeared into the hut.

Jake moved to follow but was stopped by the already enraged J'avos the misterious woman had created.

Grabbing his gun he started shooting down the hostiles but more of them were running out of the hut, and around it, and some were even crawling down the roof.

The woman had kept busy, it seemed.

From the corner of his eyes he saw women shouting and crying, some of them had children to protect, but the one that caught his attention was a young woman sprinting toward the J'avos, the red robe flying around her.

"Stay back... Back, you fool!" Jake tried to warn her.

The last thing he needed was a desperate wife trying to protect a mutated husband, but when he turned his head again to check on her, he saw the girl spinning on one bare leg, hitting a J'avo squarely on the jaw.

The neck of the man snapped, sending blood everywhere, and suddenly the robe was discarded and the African woman stood beside him.

"What the hell... Who are you?" Open-mouthed, the merc watched as she drew a gun from the back of her pants, easily shooting down three J'avos close by.

"Now's not the time for introductions, Mr Muller" The girl was already engaged in another fight and Jake soon found himself caught in the powerful grip of a big guy, a warrior probably.

It took him several minutes to get rid of him and by then the girl had almost single-handedly killed every hostile in sight.

"Impressive" He was forced to whistle in appreciation and was rewarded with a bullet, shot right beside his left ear.

Turning around, Jake saw the J'avo that was about to strike him falling down, the girl had shot him right between the eyes.

From that point on the situation pretty much handled itself.

A few warriors that weren't infected cleaned up the mess, women started crying their dead and Jake checked out the hut, followed by the dark-skinned girl so skilled with a gun.

"So, who are you? Some sort of village security guard?" He asked her, folding his arm across the ample chest, stained here and there with blood.

The girl shook her head, putting her gun away.

"My name is Sheva Alomar, BSAA," she peered out of a hole in the mud wall, then tilted her head to look at him "and I'm here because of you, actually."

This caught the mercenary attention.

"So you found me. Don't tell me, the world need saving again? You want to leech me, _again_?"

He was sarcastic, not even bothering to hide the displeasure he felt at being found.

"Well, girl, I sure ain't up for kidding around so tell me what you want."

He leaned against a wall, never taking his eyes off the agent's figure.

"You need to come in. We left you alone for more than a year, Mr Muller. Now they need you and I was supposed to track your movements and call for extraction" She took out a PDA, flicked it open and surveyed something on the screen before looking at him again.

"Before you ask, should you require payment, they are willing to negotiate. I've orders to escort you to a neutral location, then you'll decide if you want to help or not"

Jake was a bit taken aback at this, but recovered quickly and scoffed.

"Right, neutral location my ass. Do I even have a choice in this? And who the hell was that woman anyway?" He asked, trying to keep his frustration at bay.

Sheva merely shrugged. "I don't know, my best bet is that she was following you too. Or maybe she was involved with whatever you were looking for around here"

She glanced at him, obviously curious, but then she shrugged again and motioned for him to follow.

"Hey wait a minute, who said I was going to come?" Jake held up his hands, stepping away from the wall but not moving a step towards Sheva.

"They already have my blood. And my genome. And samples from every possible part of me."

One eyebrow curved, mocking "And yes, that includes my..." He trailed off, a hand making a vague gesture toward his groin, "I don't have anything else to give, and even if I had I probably wouldn't come anyway."

Sheva stopped, turning to look at him.

"They don't need anything from you. Not physically. As far as I know, they need you for a mission." she calmly stated, not in the least impressed by the merc's bravado.

"A mission? What am I, a fucking BSAA agent now?" Jake was incredulous but after a moment decided to play along and sighed.

"Alright, alright... I know you guys, you won't quit until I've said yes. We'll talk compensation later, right now do me a favor and call someone for me on that smart PDA of yours. Mine's a bit rusty" Flashing a grin that could have hidden behind all kinds of thoughts, Jake stopped near the agent, ready to call the only person that could make the whole thing happen for him.

Quickly, he gave her a number and then waited.

"Who is this number?" asked Sheva, while the PDA dialed.

"My teammate. Agent Sherry Birkin, National Securi-oh, wait, she's probably something else right now. No matter, I won't move my ass for a billion dollars without contacting her first." his voice trailed off again as Sheva went utterly still and then closed the PDA, keeping eyes down.

"Mr Muller, we can't call Agent Birkin." she stated, her voice distant now, almost detached.

"And why the hell not? I don't care about protocols" Jake was irritated now.

He finally had a good excuse to call Sherry, and a stupid protocol was in his way? Hell, no.

"Call her, make sure she knows its me calling and..."

"Mr Muller," the agent interrupted, again, "we can't call her."

As Jake opened his mouth to protest again, Sheva raised her eyes and looked straight at him.

"Mr Muller... Jake. Agent Birkin is dead. KIA. Two months ago."

In that moment, the savannah freezed around him.

* * *

That's it!

Next chapter probably late tomorrow evening. Gotta wait until two a.m. here in Italy for Once Upon A Time episode release ;)


	2. Hope

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the Resident Evil universe. Everything belongs to Capcom. Lucky bastards.

And here's the second chapter!

I'm still not sure about the other couples, but I'm working on that!

I hope you like it.

61wisampa: Thank you! Yeah, I guess it's not much of a cliffhanger there, but I hope you'll enjoy the story as it progresses!

BabyFaith18: I'll work on getting those grammar errors fixed, I promise! Thanks! ^_^

Kunfupandalover: Thank you :D

MINI GUESSING GAME!

I wrote Jake's part or at least most of it, thinking about a song. Not really a songfic, per se, but if you want to guess the song, I'll think of some kind of tiny virtual reward for the winner(s) ^_^

* * *

For a nanosecond the whole world stopped its turning. Then it started again and everything blew up.

Jake wasn't exactly the stammering, teary-eyed type so he just stood motionless and then exploded in a flurry of nervous energy. He couldn't stop himself from twitching, pacing around, but still he kept silent.

Sheva watched him with something akin to empathy and after a while started to speak, softly.

"I met Agent Birkin about five years ago, she came here on NS business. They notified me when the accident happened."

"And what the fuck happened?" The mercenary voice was coarse and rude, as always, but this time he avoided eye contact and Sheva could only sigh.

"They were wiped out by a B.O.W. in Austria. Their base camp was attacked, they couldn't call for extraction. Backup arrived in four hours but found nothing, everything was burned and sanitized."

"So, how do they know that they're even dead?" Jake had to fight to keep hope out of his words.

"Cameras. A nearby bank security camera filmed almost everything before shutting down," the woman hesitated, than went on. "Sherry was the last one standing."

"Damn right she was" He growled. "Take the lead, Agent Alomar. I'm coming with you" he said, curtly. Then brushing past the woman, he exited the hut.

* * *

Sherry was in pain.

But that was good, because it meant that she was also alive.

For a brief moment this knowledge filled her with hope, than in a haze she reminded herself that more pain would probably follow.

She had endured so much, as a guinea pig and later as an agent.

She didn't know how to find enough strength to endure it all again.

But after a while, as the sedative wore off, she found her courage.

"Never give up, no matter the odds" she murmured, recalling the day she had uttered those same words to Jake, in that godforsaken cabin.

She was strapped down to a hospital bed, wearing nothing but a paper wrap.

Nothing new here.

The room was brightly lit, with almost no furniture beside some monitors and stainless steel appliques.

Tubes and needles pierced her everywhere but the biggest source of pain came from her shoulder.

Stifling a groan, she managed to tilt her head and then gasped at the big gash that was still open.

It seemed that her body couldn't regenerate itself enough, maybe the acid had burned her flesh too much.

Anyway, it hurt like hell.

Suddenly a automated door buzzed open and a couple of doctors in white came in, holding files and pens in their hands.

"Good to see you awake, Ms Birkin" one of them said, and for a moment she wondered if this wasn't simply a hospital.

Maybe she was saved.

But she soon realized she was mistaken when one of the doctors leaned in to examine her shoulder, nodding with satisfaction.

"That acid is really impressive. We should expand that branch of research, I tell you" he said to the other doctor, who was prepping a needle for some kind of shot.

Sherry knew that she was in bigger troubles than ever.

* * *

After a while the day started to merge one into the other.

Time stopped, in a way.

Sherry lived for the brief moments of peace she could spend alone in the room they put her into.

Her shoulder had mended, though not completely, and now only a big scar was left of her encounter with the Big Bug from Hell.

They had experimented on her, of course, but mostly they wanted to see how the G-virus enhanced her abilities.

They gave her extra training, lots of it.

In the last month she had to kill so many infected, she actually didn't even flinch anymore.

She spent most of her time either with a gun in hands or covered in blood from close-quarter combat sessions.

After a while, she stopped believing in a possible rescue.

That wasn't because of the time passing slowly, after all she spent six months in Edonia before being able to escape.

No, it was because she knew what they'll do to her, once the lab declared her fit.

They'll implant a device into her chest and Sherry Birkin would be no more.

She saw it happening a couple times already, when they chose some other prisoner to be her partner for a couple of training sessions.

She'd try to speak with them, to communicate, but their minds were blank, the only thing alive was the rhythmic glow of the device they carried around.

A doctor explained to her what it was and all hope was lost.

* * *

Once Sheva had called for extraction, everything went quiet for Jake.

During the whole trip to Nairobi he was silent, lost in thought.

Sheva respected this, she didn't seem to mind actually, as if she was lost in thoughts of her own.

Distractedly, the mercenary watched the savannah passing underneath them, the helicopter rotors made enough noise to drown out everything else but couldn't silence his mind at all.

He was the one who left her.

He was the one who put her on a plane, bought a motorcycle and ran away.

He told her lots of bullshit about how safer it would have been for the both of them, if they stayed apart.

And partly, he was sincere.

Umbrella or one of its underlings would never stop hunting him down.

And if they found him with her, she'll probably end up dead, or experimented on at least.

Sherry agreed with him, albeit reluctantly, and so they parted on good terms.

He promised her to keep in touch, and left.

What he hadn't expected was how much he would miss the blonde agent.

Every fight he'd gotten into since then he always wasted a split second extra to check over his shoulder, half-expecting to see her flying-kicking someone to death with the grace of a ballerina.

It was unnerving and scary, if he was honest with himself, to understand how close he came to another human being.

Closeness like that could only lead to trouble.

There were some open doors that Jake wasn't meant to enter.

So he just decided to ran away again, emotionally this time.

He stopped answering her texts, discarded his phone, cut the cord.

Since then he tried to get his old life back, but he found out that it was impossible.

Something had changed, and he couldn't change it back.

That's why he took every job, no matter how dangerous or underpaid.

He told himself that even though he wasn't his father, the apple never fell too far from the tree.

He told himself that romance, soul-searching, devotion were not emotions meant for him.

He ran, like a coward, from the only person that had taught him something valuable in his entire life.

But still, despite it all, he never actually believed they'll never see each other again.

He always knew that someday he'd find a good enough excuse to call her.

He never thought about the fact that they both had dangerous job, that she could die so far from him.

The phrase "I'll never forgive myself" flashed for a moment in his brain but he just wasn't the kind of guy who spent time with regrets.

Still, he felt prostrated, as if a powerful blow had knocked him to his knees.

He was filling up with anger and desire to destroy, yet his hands were cold as hell,. He didn't even feel like a human being anymore.

More than anything he wanted to know that she was still alive, because if she was, he could do something about it.

He wanted to know if her heart was still beating.

He wanted answers.

And then, he'd get on with his revenge.

* * *

When Jake landed in Nairobi he was resolved to trade his help for this goddamn BSAA mission with everything they knew about Sherry's death.

She probably would have been disappointed in him for seeking vengeance, but he wans't a saint and couldn't just let it go.

More than anything he needed someone to blame.

He followed Sheva inside the BSAA headquarters and found himself in a room with only a couple desks and a plastic table, probably some sort of interrogation room.

"I want to see the video" Jake said, careful to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Hell, I want to see everything you have on Sh- Agent Birkin's death" he went on without waiting for an answer, "It's either that, or no deal".

Sheva was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright, I'll go tell the brass that we're here, then I'll be back with the files." with that the dark-skinned agent left the room and Jake was alone again.

Sheva kept her word though, in under ten minutes she was back, with a pad and some paper folders.

"That's all we have right now, top secret reports included" she announced, setting everything down in fronto of the mercenary, who raised an eyebrow, sceptically.

"It's true, the brass told me to give you everything about it" Sheva confirmed, turning on the pad.

On the display there were lots of thumbnails, probably videos. The paper files were full of pictures and official looking reports.

"Show me." he said, curtly. Of course he meant "Show me _her_" but he managed to keep things more professional. The agent nodded and pressed play on one of the thumbnails, switching it to full screen mode.

With every frame Jake went whiter, especially after seeing so many soldiers die so quickly, but he couldn't keep himself from wincing in pain when he saw Sherry pinned to the curb.

He watched as she screamed, then some kind of malfunction hit the camera and the video stopped.

"She might be alive" he ventured, after a few seconds of silence.

Sheva's eyes were sympathetic but she clearly didn't believe him. "I don't think so, Jake. They raided the square a few hours after that and everything was burned but they managed to recover every dog tag, including Agent Birkin's. I'm sorry".

"I want a copy of all this" Jake replied, avoiding eye-contact.

"So, you'll accept the mission then?" Sheva sat down on one of the chairs while the mercenary grabbed a hold on the other one.

"What do you need me for?" He couldn't keep his voice even as he would have liked. This blasted mission was all a nuisance, a bloody waste of time. But he needed those files to plot out his next move, so he had to cave in.

"You need to recover some datas from a Neo-Umbrella base in Iraq. You'll be accompanying a BSAA team, but you won't have the same orders. They need to clean up the place and then blow up everything. You," she paused, looking him straight in the eye. "Need to sneak in before the attack begins, recover the data, wipe out their entire system and then make damn sure no-one is able to escape with backups."

The mercenary frowned.

"I don't get it... If there's a team already dispatched there, why would you need me?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"Because the security is pretty tight in that place, no way a whole team or even a couple of soldiers could pull it off without raising the alarm. You on the other hand," Sheva watched him carefully before shrugging. "you can manage it on your own."

She sounded a bit sceptical, but Jake couldn't care less.

"Alright, let's do it."

* * *

So that's it :)

Not much of a cliffhanger this time, but I hope you liked it!


	3. Underwater

Here's the third chapter!

Not very fluffy, I know. We're still in the midst of action, but fluff will come, I promise!

I'm already working on chapter 4, it should be online soon. As always, feel free to review! I won't mind even the cruelest of reviewers if it means improving my writing ^_^

* * *

Sheva was clearly relieved.

"I'll let the Captain brief you" she said, raising up and moving to one side of the room, leaning against the wall.

The door opened in that moment and a familiar face entered Jake's visual.

"You're that guy... Redfield." he wasn't really surprised, but he last saw the BSAA soldier in China, with Sherry, and the thought filled him with renewed anger.

"Muller." Chris was curt, as always, and spared only a glance for Sheva.

The other agent clenched her jaw, and Jake raised an eyebrow. Was there a fight going on between the two? Or they just didn't get along very well?

He was curious, but his curiosity toward their situation was pea-sized compared to what Chris had to say so he focused on the soldier's words, his eyes intent.

"We need to breach into a facility, as I believe Agent Alomar informed you already." Chris started, unfolding an old fashioned map on the table between them instead of calling up a in image on the PDA.

Jake leaned in, recognizing Iraq and its major cities, nodding in appreciation. He liked old-style.

"The facility is underground, built under the ruins of Nineveh." He pointed at a specific point on the map, on the north of Iraw, marked with a red dot. "There are two main entrance, here and here." he took out a new map, this one a satellite photo of the site and then kept pointing, as he spoke with his distinctive matter-of-fact air.

"These two are mounds, Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus. These entrances are too well guarded, but they are also the only ones that are directly linked with the whole compound, as far as we know. Therefore we'll have no choice but to attack them. My Alpha team will take K and Echo the other one. Bravo and Delta will keep to the perimeter and kill everyone who tries to escape."

If Jake was surprised at the number of teams deployed, which meant that it was a very important mission for BSAA, he didn't show it.

"They'll kill everyone, no exceptions. So you'll have to take another route. There's a river that crossed the entire city, now it runs partly underground. You'll dive in and follow it until you'll encounter a few air vents and the sewers. That's the point you'll need to breach in order to enter the facility. Once you are done, take the same route and keep swimming downriver until you are clear, than call for extraction" He pointed again, then folded his arms and just stared at Jake, waiting for an answer.

The mercenary appeared thoughtful for a while, then nodded again.

"Alright, time for a swim. But you still haven't told me what I'm looking for. What am I supposed to retrieve from that Nin- nini... from that place?" the merc was clearly impatient now.

"DNA" Chris' answer was brief.

"What? What do you mean by DNA?" Jake's fingers started drumming on the table in clear frustration.

"Precisely that, DNA. You have to retrieve datas from a research they're carrying on in that facility as well as every physical sample they might have stored. Once you're in you're going to need a PDA from one of the employees. That'll guide you to a main terminal and the labs where they keep the samples. Download the datas and upload a virus that'll wipe out everything from the memory. Then look at the employee's map on the PDA to see if there's any escape route we don't know about and kill everyone who tries to leave. Then you're done." Chris shrugged and Jake scoffed.

"Yeah, then I'm done, alright."

* * *

The ruins of Nineveh were quiet. The site had been declared off-limits for tourists about five years back and now the ancient walls enjoyed the touch of the winds and the kiss of rain without annoying people running about.

Underground, past the two entries camouflaged by fake rocks, past the many floors and elevators, Sherry Birkin had made a choice.

The next day was _the_ day. She had passed their last test, a 48 hours long combat session with no weapon and no supplies. She had to eat rats, something she wouldn't forget in a hurry. Still, she survived.

And even though hope was still lost, and she didn't want to die, she feared the spider-like device more.

Sherry had overheard a couple doctors talking about it while they escorted her back to her room, and she suddenly reached a decision.

Rebellion meant death. But it also meant that she would die being herself, not some kind of puppet. It meant that she could die the way she lived, not giving up.

It meant making Jake proud.

So when they took her to the OR the next day, she was ready. They strapped her to the table but she knew it wouldn't be a problem. She kept staring at the ceiling, feigning apathy, and waited, biding her time. Her breath was even, her heartbeat couldn't be more calm. She was ready.

When the nurse came to drug her and knock her out she suddenly snapped. Her leg shot out, kicking the nurse on a temple and before he could touch the ground the blonde agent slid under the restraints, sticking an elbow in another nurse's groin. Once free it was only a matter of seconds before the remaining three doctors were safely dispatched.

Sherry didn't stop to check if they were dead. She just grabbed a surgical knife and sprinted to the door, ducking behind a cabinet just in time to avoid being gunned down by a couple J'avos wielding machine guns. It took her ten seconds to take them down, with a couple of well placed punches that most likely broke their necks.

The next opponent was tougher. Not because he was bigger or armored, but because he was standing in the doorway blocking her exit and he had a gun pointed at her, not more than a feet away from her head. Too close to avoid it or escape.

She could surrender, but she rather suspected they would just kill her if she proved to be too much trouble so she chose action. Her only possibility was to move quicker than the bullet, so it'd hit her on a shoulder or cause only a flesh wound. At worst she could lose a ear.

She hadn't factored in the J'avos' enhanced senses. The bullet caught her straight on the jaw, breaking a couple teeth before exiting somewhere near her left ear, tearing apart her whole cheek. That hurt but Sherry was so used to pain by then that she didn't even flinch. The knife she had grabbed earlier was already slashing through the enemy's throat.

Armed now with a machine gun, she felt safer. Not safe. Her escape was still an impossibility. But at least she'd take down with her as many infected bastards as possible. She felt powerful and grinned, madly.

Gun in hands, ready to strike, she moved on.

* * *

Jake was underwater. He had geared up and dived without hesitation, even though he didn't like water very much. Once he almost drowned, and since that day he felt more like himself when he could feel the earth under his feet.

Not to mention that being underwater brought Sherry to mind. If he was to be honest with himself, almost everything brought Sherry to mind.

Reminding himself to breath steadily into the mouthpiece, he let the current guide him. Fortunately, it wasn't a very fast river and so clear he could see without a light on, at least for now. He kept going until he felt the current pick up speed, a sign that they were slowly going underground, and as the light began to fade, he started counting.

According to the data, after a minute and a half he would be near the sewers. That meant he had to reemerge and use the grappling hook to anchor himself before climbing.

One... two... three... Every second was torture. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be outside, looking for Sherry's murderer. For a moment his brain was filled to the brim with images of blood and revenge and when he collected himself, the counting was all messed up.

Crap. Was it sixty-nine seconds?

He clearly was in no state to attempt a mission of this magnitude, but he didn't have a choice. With a powerful thrust he waded to the surface, the water now so filthy that the sewers couldn't be far. His light fanned the artificial ceiling of the tunnel, looking for upcoming air vents. He had two, possibly three shots at this, then the river would carry him too far and the mission would be over.

For a second he thought about deliberately sabotaging the operation, but he couldn't. He knew that Sherry wouldn't approve, she believed in responsibility. He sighed, relief flowing through him when he spotted a promising grid and shot a hook, almost missing. Yeah, he clearly wasn't himself at his best.

Steadying himself in the flow he started to climb against the current now, reaching the air vent. A bit of work with a laser cutter and he was in. Ventilation systems, those he understood. Blissfully water-free, they were filled with rats and roaches, but dependable. They always led somewhere. This particular one was almost perpendicular for a dozen feet and then bent eastward, providing a nice place to rest.

Jake discarded his gear, leaving it bundled up on one side. He had a GPS inside so he could find it again, but he took the portable respirator with him, just in case he had to take an unexpected dive later. Dressed up now in his ordinary black shirt-and-jeans combo, he adjusted his holster and started the painful climb up to the pipe.

He had troubles in a couple spots but at last he found the right way and he felt a warm breeze on his wet skin and saw a light ahead. He focused, reaching a second grating and saw a small office with three men working at monitors.

This could be a problem, since he didn't have time to take all three down without raising the alarm. He could do two, maybe. But three was too much. He checked the chronometer at his wrist, the time on it kept ticking backwards as the two hours he had to complete his mission slowly passed. Frustrated he thought about it and then decided. He would wait five minutes, to see if something changed in the room, otherwise he would take his chance anyway.

He was lucky. Not three minutes had ticked by that one of the men got up and exited, followed soon by another one. He acted.

It took him less than thirty seconds to kick the grid open, slid outside and kill the man without making a sound, twisting his neck.

From that it was a bit easier. He donned a lab coat, hid the body in the vent, stole a PDA and followed the data to the closest terminal. Everything was easy. Too easy even for him.

The terminal was situated in a dark room with concrete walls. Cables ran everywhere on the floor and walls, huge screens and keypads covered up a whole wall. The other one looked like a mirror, or a glass panel, dark. Jake slipped in quietly, locating the water-proof data key that was supposed to upload a virus and download all data at the same time.

He often used these devices in his missions, but didn't understand how they worked. He plugged in the key, using his limited skills to start the program, and then waited. Chris had told him that the whole process would take at least ten minutes.

The virus was implanted into the system without raising alarm, rigged to blow and wipe everything clean at the same time of the attack. Every file BSAA needed would by then be safe with Jake. Win-win situation.

The mercenary looked around, fidgeting. He had still work to do afterward. According to intel, the facility hosted a large number of DNA samples that were used to create even more powerful B.O.W.

He had orders to collect everything he could carry, and destroy the rest.

Lost in thought, he didn't realize right away that something was not right. It was the bluish light that alerted him. The wall on the other side of the room, the glass-paneled one, was starting to light up. On the other side of the glass there was a room, apparently some sort of operation room.

Nurses were fussing with instruments, a couple doctors entered talking with each other. A third nurse was pushing a stretcher.

Jake pondered the possibilities. Either the glass was mirrored so they couldn't see him, or they had already saw him and thought he was legit. So he decided to feign indifference and keep pretending he was a tech, doing technical stuff in a technical room that just happened to be nearby. He kept stealing glances at the OR though, just to be sure no-one suspected anything.

And then all hell broke loose.

In the other room, the patient had suddenly broke free and killed a nurse. And the another one. And a doctor.

And in the terminal room Jake's mind had just stopped. Because he recognized the patient now. He would recognize that flying kick everywhere.

Sherry.

He was about to scream, but restrained himself. Frantically, he checked the progress on the monitor. Still 12% to go. The blonde agent had efficiently eliminated everyone in the room. The mercenary was impressed at her speed. She was good in China, very good. Now she seemed to be absolutely lethal. Open-mouthed he kept staring at the surreal scene, watching Sherry taking down a couple more enemies.

But then something happened which absolutely drove him crazy. A J'avos entered while the girl was lying down and pointed a gun at her.

He pointed a gun at directly at her head. Jake couldn't stand it.

"Screw the mission" he grunted, racing forward to break the glass.

Only to find himself staring at a concrete wall.

The glass panel turned out to be just another screen, albeit huge and ultra flat.

Jake sank to his knees, numb with shock.


	4. Pay The Price

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything of the RE universe. Everything belongs to Capcom.

And here's the 4th chapter!

I'm really happy with the reviews, I'm glad you liked it!

As 61wisampa said, it would have been too obvious to have Sherry maneuvred by P30 and even though it would have been fun to have a Jake/Sherry fistfight, I opted for a simpler solution!

Still, I hope you'll like this :)

Thank you so much for the support!

* * *

Jake was a mercenary.

That meant being a cold-blooded killer, if the pay was right.

Still, he knew fear. He had felt it, in the past, a shiver down his spine, a tightness of his stomach.

He knew how to fight it, how to regain control and excel nonetheless.

Now he was filled with panic.

And panic was a different kind of beast altogether. It paralyzed him. This was new.

Sherry had been there, right in front of him and then she was gone, again.

The glass window was a screen, she could have been anywhere by now. She could have been dead already, with a bullet lodged between her eyes.

As he pictured this, Jake's body shook in terror and he felt something break inside him.

He had to do something. He leapt into action just as an alarm started bleating through the speakers. For a second he thought the attack had begun, but he still had thirty minutes at least before the BSAA grand entrance, so that must be because of Sherry.

The program was done, 100% flashed on the screen. He took the data key, storing it away, then used the PDA to find whether there was a medical floor somewhere in the facility.

There was, at it wasn't far.

Ten seconds later he was gone.

* * *

Sherry kept killing.

She got soaked in blood, covered in cuts, drenched in sweat. Her cheek injury was gone, but more were opening up in her flesh with every second passing, a hail of bullets headed her way.

Still, she kept killing. They made her like this, now they had to pay the price.

She heard through the speaker that medical was being isolated from the rest of the facility, which meant that she couldn't escape. But that was alright, she had a plan. Leaving behind her a trail of dead bodies, she was directed to the Hole. This particular part of the facility, she knew, was built around a huge shaft that plunged straight down in the earth for almost thirty floors. Medical was almost at the top, and every floor had a balcony that looked down into the Hole, and up, toward artificial lights pretending to be the Sun.

She meant to jump. It was simple. It was perfect.

If she just could reach the Hole, there was no way they could drug or subdue her without causing her to fall.

Which in turn, meant that she would be free. Filled with adrenaline, she didn't feel sad or afraid at the thought. Instead she was bursting with euphoria.

One corridor after the other passed by as she moved swiftly. Before she knew, light filled her vision and bursting through a doorway, she found herself looking down the Hole.

Satisfaction filled her.

Still, she wasn't done. Climbing on the steel fence that was the only barrier between her and a deadly fall, she kept shooting down attackers. Her enemies were J'avos, human guards, some trained mercenaries and a couple unlucky employees. She was unstoppable. For every bullet that pierced her skin, ten more were shot by her gun, and more bodies littered the floor.

The carnage went on for some time, but couldn't go on indefinitely. At last, one particularly smart guard figured it out and positioning himself right behind her, he shot across the big shaft directly at her heart, sniper-style. The bullet did not kill her but Sherry knew that she was finished, soon they'd figure out they had to aim at her head. She let the gun drop from her fingers, smiling wildly at the enemies approaching.

Arms spread wide, she let herself fall.

* * *

Jake was running like a madman, feeling more desperate with every step.

He had to snap a guard's neck to steal a badge, helmet and vest so he could sneak past the blockade. They had isolated the medical floor, the one directly above and the one under it. Three whole floors that now were filling up with soldiers. J'avos and security guards were running everywhere, guns in hands, and he followed them.

There was no way Sherry could have survived this long in the mayhem. Still he couldn't give up. He kept running until he found himself on a balcony that overlooked a big void. Apparently the floors were built around this shaft, and he felt disorientated for a moment.

"There she is, that bitch" He heard someone growl and turned around just in time to see a guard kneeling and taking aim. The bullet shot out, flying through the shaft and upward toward the floor above. Jake's gaze followed and for the third time in a couple of days his heart stopped.

"Christ, no!" His scream was drowned in the general chaos but for him everything was silent. He watched, horrified, as Sherry fell down.

Later, he would thank his mercenary instinct. With barely a conscious thought he was already sprinting toward the steel fence, removing the grappling-hook gun from his belt and arming it.

He kicked himself away from the balcony with all the strength he could muster and still he was sure he'd miss her anyway.

Then Sherry was in his arms, and the hook was flying in the air. They kept falling until the it caught hold, then they felt a strong pull and were tossed on a balcony at least ten floors down. Rolling, Jake tried to shield the blonde girl from the impact with the cement.

He was motionless for a couple more seconds, his breath heavy with fear. Once he felt her body pressed against him, memory came rushing back and he just couldn't let her go. He lowered his gaze to Sherry's face, utterly amazed.

"You're alive" It was a pretty pathetic line, but it just seemed too good to be true.

"Jake?" Her voice held more than surprise. She was incredulous. He could read it on her blood-stained face, and suddenly a grin was on his lips. He grinned because he was happy, and he felt finally right, and he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

But peace couldn't last forever. Jake had just blown his mission, everyone was looking for them. He had gladly put everything at risk in order to save her, but now he felt his conscience waking up and groaned.

"We need to go, Sherry. Now." grabbing her hand, he started running again, this time looking for a good hiding spot when they could plan their next move. They. Their. It felt good thinking plural again, Jake realized. Fortunately, they were now on a floor filled with storage rooms, most of them filled to the brim with boxes and furniture. Nobody was around and it would take ages to search every room for them, not to mention the attack was due in less than twenty minutes.

Once they were safely hidden in a room so full of stuff they could hardly find a free spot to sit, Jake was finally able to look at Sherry. And he wish he hadn't.

Her hair was longer, he noticed, and her body was toned, more muscular. She was also almost naked.

Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze and focused it on the floor instead.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" she asked, apparently oblivious to his embarrassment.

"BSAA mission." he admitted, looking a bit sheepish.

"What? You?" Her disbelief was clear and for a moment the mercenary forgot where they were and snorted back a laugh.

"You sound really impressed, Supergirl." he teased, but reality was knocking at the door. Metaphorically, of course, or they would've been in trouble.

"Look, I'll explain later. We now have... sixteen minutes to leave this place before they attack it and destroy everything." It now occurred to him that he didn't know how they would be able to escape together.

Sherry had no wetsuit, no respirator. Beside, there was no time to retrace Jake's steps through the ventilation system, now that the whole facility was in an uproar. Plus, he had to warn Chris of what happened.

Thinking fast, he took a deep breath.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do. You're going to put on my shirt because I won't have you running around like this." he half-joked, shrugging off his vest and shirt, handling the latter to the blonde agent. Sherry blushed, accepting it without a word.

He took out his PDA, checking out the map.

"Here, we can use this vent to reach the surface. BSAA teams are patrolling the area so we won't be able to escape that way but we might be able to alert Redfield of the situation and-" he was stopped by Sherry's gasp.

"Chris is here? Where?"

"He's going to lead the attack, but now shut up" his words were softened by his half-grin.

The blonde agent smiled as he dropped his gaze to the PDA, swiftly scanning its screen.

"That's it, I found it. There's an escape tunnel. It's marked "closed" on this map but my bet is they don't want employees to use it. It's probably reserved for higher-ups" he leaned in, showing the road to Sherry.

"But what if it isn't? We could be stuck." she objected, adjusting the shirt around her.

"We don't have a choice. We can't be around here when Chris attacks. I'm carrying important data, stuff they need. I can't risk it."

Sherry appeared unconvinced, but nodded anyway.

They stood, ready to leave the safety of the room. They had less than twelve minutes.

* * *

Sherry was dreaming.

Really, that was the only explanation. Stuff like this only happened during her drug-induced dreams, where she was free to imagine. The only place where she could be with him.

And now she was with him, so this could only be a dream. Her reasoning was sound, still everything seemed too real. Jake had lent her his shirt, which was too big and covered up half of her.

She could taste blood, and she was now wielding a knife he gave her. They were moving stealthily down an empty corridor, trying to find an escape route. In her dreams she didn't bother with details. Everything was simple. Jake saved her, they escaped and just like that they were free. No corridors, no blood, no knife. And she was dressed, for chrissake.

Once they reached the vent, Jake forced it open and then pushed Sherry up into the pipe.

"Keep going, I'm right behind you." she felt oddly reassured by this and started climbing.

It was slow, painful, exhausting.

At some point, Jake's watch began to beep and he cursed.

"Damn, the attack's begun. Depending on how much a fight they put up, we might have half an hour, forty minutes tops. Then everything will be sanitized".

Sherry felt the fear in his voice and redoubled her efforts, trying to remain calm. Sweaty palms and soles would definitely slow her down even more.

Finally, Jake PDA confirmed that they had reached the top floor. They stopped to rest, huddled together.

"How can we reach the surface?" Sherry was worried. The facility was deep underground and even if they were now closer to the sky than before they still had a long way to go.

"We can't. I told you, BSAA teams are guarding the perimeter and they'll kill us before we can identify ourselves. But if we can find a ventilation shaft that goes straight up to the surface we can probably send a message to Chris." he signaled for her to follow and instead of climbing they now took a narrow passage perpendicular to the ground.

"Here's the best we can do, let's try it." Jake started typing something, then sighed. "Sent, but I don't know if it's going to work. Signal might be too weak"

Sherry was worried for Chris, but the mercenary was moving again and she had to concentrate. Her muscles ached, despite her two-months-long intensive training. She pictured the adrenaline flowing through her veins, giving her strength and stamina, and kept going.

After a while they had to climb down, then up, then down again. She followed Jake without questioning, too tired to focus. He was leading her out, this was enough. Echoes of the battle going on inside the facility reached them through the pipes, resonating in weird ways, but just as Sherry was about to collapse and ask for rest, Jake stopped.

"Here we are, Supergirl." he kicked open a grille, climbing out and then turning to help her. She stood, a bit unsteady at first, and looked around the dark tunnel. The only light was a sort of luminescent glow from some signs on the wall. There were arrows, and words in Arabic that Sherry couldn't understand.

"Exit. That way." Apparently Jake could. She was not surprised, not after China. They followed the signs but suddenly they heard a dull noise behind them, closing in. Quicker than lightning, Jake had already pushed her into a small niche in the wall, shielding her.

"Engine. Stay hidden. I'm supposed to stop everyone who tries to escape" His breath was hot in her ear and Sherry couldn't help but shiver. Very inappropriate response for the situation at hand. Trying to get a grip, she tensed and waited.

Thirty seconds passed and she was almost convinced that it was a false alarm when a bright light erupted in the tunnel, followed by the loud roar of the truck, and Jake was already gone. Half-blind, she looked as the mercenary ambushed the truck and killed the driver in one swift motion. There were three other passengers, men in suits. And five J'avos in the back, huddled over big trunks.

She had to help. Knife at the ready, she rushed into action. As Jake dealt with the men in suits, all armed with automated guns despite their official-looking outfits, she sneaked past the truck and attacked the J'avos from behind. All exhaustion forgotten, she slashed and kicked through their flesh and growled when a ragged blade cut through her left arm.

Only one J'avo was left. But unfortunately, it was also mutating right before her eyes, the chrysalis-like stuff hardening around him.

"Jake, we have a big one here. I don't have my stun rod, we'll have to kill it once it hatches" she called for the mercenary help and waited.

He climbed on the back of the truck as well, whistling when he saw the four J'avos dissolving at her feet.

"Damn, I forgot how kick-ass you're now. What the hell happened to you?" He wanted to compliment her, she knew that. Still, she couldn't help but recoil in shock. Worry immediately flashed on Jake's face but he didn't have the time to ask anything, as the cocoon was already breaking up and a worm-like thing crawled out.

"I've seen these before. They'll explode if you hit them anywhere but their weak spot" Sherry warned, her lips curling in disgust. "That's the eye, by the way."

Jake was already aiming for it, but the worm was faster. It shot something sticky toward the mercenary, hitting him straight in the eyes.

"And they spit. Damnit!" the blonde girl cursed. Deftly she threw the knife, aiming at the bulbous eye of the mutation, but a last-minute twitch of the beast caused her to miss. The blade lodged itself deep inside the greenish flesh of the thing, and smoke started to rise from the wound.

She knew the explosion these things could generate wasn't going to be pretty. In a desperate effort she shot forward, pushing the still blinded Jake to the ground. Everything behind them blew up, and she felt the skin on her back crack and blister, scorched by flames. Splinters hit her, and Jake too, but the pain was bearable in comparison to her worry for him.

"Jake, you okay?" she asked, still half-sprawled across the mercenary's body. Helping him remove that disgusting goo from his eyes, then sighed with relief as he nodded. "I'm fine. You?" He asked, brusque but never uncaring.

She smiled weakly, in response. The truck had been trashed by the explosion, its cargo destroyed. Jake examined the debris, then shrugged. "I was supposed to burn down everything I couldn't carry. Saves me the trouble." His grin was so infectious, she just had to smile back.

This wasn't a dream, but still they had managed to escape. Together.

* * *

Aaand, that's it!

They reunited!

Major fluff in the next chapter, I hope, so stay tuned ;)


	5. Finally

Fifth chapter is up!

Finally, I know. I had to undergo surgery a couple weeks ago and it took me a while to get back to writing. I know this one is shorter than the others but well, bear with me a little longer!

Plus this chapter was really hard because I wanted them to finally find each other but in my head they are complicated characters, with many layers to uncover, so I did not want it to be sweet and loving, not at first anyway.

They were hurt too much, it simply can't be that easy as much as I want them to be happy together!

So as always, tell me what you think and stay tuned for the next chapter!

Hugs!

* * *

They heard the explosion not as a sound, but as a faint thrum in the walls and floor. Apparently, they were well out of range, which was a relief. Jake's mission was officially over and he was grateful for it.

The tunnel they were using to escape was long and cold, after a while. The dark enveloped them and when they finally reached the steel door leading to freedom, they stopped, looking at each other in the dark.

"Alright, here we go." Jake had to use all his weight to throw open the door, fully expecting to be blinded by light, but he was mistaken.

Outside it was dark, and freezing. Iraqi nights were not gentle on half-naked people. The mercenary could see that Sherry was beyond exhaustion by now and clenched his jaw, worried.

"Hang on, Supergirl." he flicked open the stolen PDA, but the signal was gone. It was probably tied to the facility, and with that now gone it was useless. He had brought another with him, the one he was supposed to use later and call for extraction, so he switched it on and tried to dial. The satellite call went through, but then was denied. He tried again, but couldn't reach anyone. He was frustrated, and frankly pissed off, but tried not to show it.

Checking a couple maps of the area, he pretended to be calm. "We should be okay, I think I know were we are. There's a village a couple miles from here. " He'd hoped the knowledge would make her feel better, but Sherry's face was drained of all color and emotions.

Still, they couldn't linger so he grabbed her hand and started walking in the right direction, or at least he hoped it was the right direction. The ground was rocky and uneven, which made it all more difficult, and after a while he noticed that Sherry couldn't even walk straight.

The girl had obviously depleted all her energies and was now on the verge of collapsing. Jake hoped that a good night sleep would restore her health, because if hypothermia set in he wouldn't know what to do.

He sighed, hearing Sherry dragging herself at his side and stumbling. "That's it, I'm carrying you." He ignored her faint complaints, swooping her up in his arms. She was light, and also cold as ice. Keeping her close, he trudged up a small hill and almost shouted with excitement when he saw buildings ahead. The village has obviously been abandoned, no lights shone through the windows and debris was piled up everywhere, but at least they'd have a roof and something to burn.

Everything was quiet. Jake had to fight an eerie feeling of dread and instead tried to focus on finding a place to stay. The first two houses he checked were too damaged or too filthy but the third one was okay. It had probably been used before as a refuge because there were mattresses scattered around and a dark patch on the floor where a fire was lit. On the wall someone had punched a hole, to allow the smoke a easy exit. He sighed, relieved, and helped Sherry to one of the stained mattresses, where the girl immediately curled up with a groan.

"Hang on, I'll get a fire burning and then we'll be warmer, I promise" Jake's voice was firm but inside he did not feel too sure. Lighting a fire was dangerous, there could be all sort of mutated enemies around those hills and they were too tired to fight. Still, Sherry needed warmth. Deftly he pulled out his lighter from the water-proof satchel and in a couple minutes a small fire was burning. He grinned, but his grin faded when he looked at the blonde girl, still shivering. There were no blankets around, obviously whoever was that used the small house as a shelter took them all, and the small fire wasn't enough to warm the entire room so quickly.

Sighing, he untied his belt, putting it beside the mattress were he could reach it in a moment, and embraced the girl, running his hands up and down her thin body to warm the pale skin. Sherry protested, of course, but she wasn't strong enough to push him away and frankly he would've insisted anyway. Both arms tight around her, he kept her close as slowly the heat from his body seeped through, warming both of them up.

After a while Jake realized that he was dozing off, his head buried in Sherry's light blond locks. He held her tighter, noticing that she wasn't shivering anymore and was fast asleep, her breath coming steady and calm. That pleased him somehow, the thought that this strong woman could feel secure in his arms, secure enough to sleep so peacefully. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his lips.

* * *

She was dreaming. Again, there was no other explanation for this, it had to be a dream. She woke up in the dark, feeling warm and safe. Someone was holding her and she could hear a heartbeat that wasn't her own. She kept her eyes closed, inhaling the scent that was surrounding her, a mixture of charcoal and dust and something else, something soothing like lavender and warm as cinnamon.

After a while she realized that she was lying on one side, her head pressed up against a warm chest, the source of that heartbeat she kept hearing. She felt her bare legs entwine with his, felt the smooth skin under her fingers. He was hot, almost feverish, but she knew it was because of the virus and she reveled in the sensation. Her memories were still cold, so cold. She usually could withstand below-zero temperatures really well but exhaustion must have weakened her body too much.

Jake had saved her. The thought struck her and she gasped, causing him to stir in his sleep, mumbling something against her hair. Sherry could not help but smile, running one of her hands along his back to reassure him, her fingers brushing gently over scars that marred his otherwise smooth skin. She envied him those scars, she suddenly realized. They symbolized a humanity she no longer possessed, since the virus took her. It was irrational, after all Jake was infected too, even if he could not regenerate, but still she couldn't help herself and kept going, finding every little ridge and exploring it.

"Sherry...".

The whisper came unexpected, barely audible in the darkness, and it should have startled her. It should have troubled her, to be found in this position, practically caressing him. Instead she just tilted her head upward, toward him. A small murmur left her lips and she could feel him stirring, not to show discomfort but simply to adjust his bigger body to hers. She let her mouth feel him in the dark, touching the jaw first and then slowly sliding up, until finally their lips met.

Finally, she actually thought that in her head, because it felt so right to have him so close that she wondered why it took them so long. She knew this was wrong, she could hear the logical part of her brain shouting at her, warning her to stop, but she chose to be deaf. She chose to be blind, too, keeping her eyes closed like everything depended on it, and instead focused on him.

Him. He felt like the whole world to her, in that moment. She did have relationships, growing up, guys who held her in their arms and kissed her and told her she was beautiful. Not many, but she had a few, and she liked the intimacy after the aseptic environment she lived in as a girl. Still, this was different. This was sweet and passionate, she felt fragile and unstoppable at the same time. Her lips curved to form a laugh at the clicheèd thought, and Jake pulled away for a moment, puzzled.

"What is it?" the mercenary voice sounded hoarse, dazed, and she smiled again, liking it far too much for her own good. They kissed again and she tried to be gentle, she really did. Inside, Sherry felt like burning, she felt primitive and wanton and devil-may-care. She was always so sensible, so restrained, but now every muscles ached and every cell screamed for him. He seemed to feel the same because suddenly he wasn't just kissing her. His hands roamed her half-naked body and he was pressing her up against him and he was panting, almost desperate.

It wasn't pretty. It was fast and messy and filled with all the pain and the hurt they both suffered.

The fire kept burning slowly, a few cinders shedding little light in the room, but the two couldn't care less. Their bodies needed this, and as she bit back a scream of release, Sherry wished there would be no tomorrow.

* * *

Miles away from the two, smoke rose from the ruins of Nineveh. The facility was destroyed, every employee was dead or dying, but the price had been high.

Every company deployed had suffered severe losses and the little camp they built nearby the battle ground was filled with injured soldiers and worried medics.

Slumped against a wall, Christ Redfield was fighting panic. He saw his vision turn dark, felt his chest so tight he could barely breathe. Balling his fists, he struggled to keep focused, knowing that surrender now would probably mean hours of screams and pain, one of those crisis that periodically hit him since Edonia.

Before his eyes flashed every single moment of the battle they just won. His whole team was wiped out, saving a few soldiers, but he was sadly used to this. What he couldn't bear were those eyes, turning big and scared as a Napad bit into her back. What he couldn't bear was the shriek of agony that left her lips. What he couldn't bear was the sight of blood on her dark skin and the sight of her body flying in the air and hitting a concrete wall.

What Chris Redfield could not bear was the thought of her dying.

* * *

Aaand, a little snippet for Chris and Sheva too!


End file.
